Pablo, The sad fact is, and I don't say this to be nasty or dismissive but to introduce a reality check, that even with the advances that have been made in accessibility, and there have been many just over the last decade, the world is designed for "the typical" and those with significant disabilities are not "the typical." This is one of the reasons I try to teach my clients (two of which are, at this time, graduate students) to learn to be their own advocates. I do not know of a single college student who does not, with pretty much frequency, need to have a sighted reader, particularly for older print material or, as you've found, niche material like mathematical books, etc. If colleges accept students with disabilities they are expected to provide reasonable accommodations, but very often they have absolutely no idea what that entails. I have to say that this is not necessarily their fault, either, because students with disabilities are a micro niche and even the disabilities coordinators may be encountering someone with "disability X" or "disability Y" for the first time, ever, and have no idea of what's what. It is absolutely impossible for any disabilities coordinator to have in-depth knowledge of every disability, or combination of disabilities, they might encounter. A lot of thinking on one's feet is involved and, very often, taking input from the client as to what they've needed in the past in similar settings. It's an uphill battle for all involved, including a lot of people who genuinely want to help you.
If you actually know what you need, and in a situation like this is will probably be a reader, then push to get one. Once you're in school you will find that "time is of the essence" will take on some real, new meaning even if you are given time accommodations for specific assignments. You are going to have to figure out what you will require to meet those deadlines and, if it's not already in place, start rattling cages to get it into place as promptly as possible. If there is a state department for the blind and visually impaired in your state you would be wise to link up with them for assistance and advocacy. Even then, you'll still have to sometimes push for what you need. I am not trying to be discouraging at all. You can be a college student and be blind, but your college experience will, by definition, be very different than that of most students and you will need to be thinking about what you need all the time, and trying to anticipate what you might need as your courses change. One of the things that's driven me crazy as a JAWS tutor for students is the introduction of web-based course management systems. These things are great if you can see, and can instantly tell what out of the myriad features your given professor may or may not be using for a given course, but if you can't we know how JAWS reads every blessed thing on a screen, and lots of these screens are chock full of links that aren't used, but remain there as place holders. I have tried to encourage several local institutions to set up either "sandbox" versions of these systems with fake courses loaded so that those who have to access them with screen readers can have practice, and lots of it, prior to actually needing to use these systems for actual courses (or setting up fake courses in their real systems that they can enroll you in for practice). The electronic course management system could be an entire semester's class alone, and no one should be trying to learn how to use it while also trying to learn the actual material for a course. You can do this, but you will, unquestionably, be working harder to get it done in ways that no one who is not in your situation will ever understand entirely, myself included. Brian
